5th-Grade Girl, Beloved Teacher Killed In Paramus School Bus Crash

The impact knocked the bus off its chassis.Photo Credit: Brandon SmithGov. Phil Murphy during Thursday afternoon news conference at East Brook Middle School in Paramus.Photo Credit: Cecilia LevineRoute 80 was closed in both directions in Mount Olive.Photo Credit: GoogleMaps

"That was my daughter's best-ever teacher," a mother of an unharmed student said. "She was an angel."

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TRIBUTE:
For each and every student of hers -- both current and former -- veteran middle-school teacher Jennifer Williamson made class worth going to during what were the most turbulent years of their young lives.

The bus was filled with 40 or so students and several adults, one of three buses on a field trip to Waterloo Village in Stanhope, a father of one of the victims told Daily Voice as he rushed to the hospital to check on his daughter.

"The other two buses were in front of them," the father of another student said. "They didn't see what happened."

District officials were receiving parents to provide information in the auditorium at East Brook Middle School in Paramus.

Meanwhile, Gov. Murphy attended a news conference with Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco, school officials and police at Paramus High School.

"On days like this my late dad used to say 'Man proposes and God disposes as it relates to our plans," the governor told reporters, staff and parents.

"65 years I've lived in this town and it’s difficult to stand here to talk about an education community suffering so deeply," Tedesco added.

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Paramus schools:

All will be open on Friday, with crisis counselors on hand to assist children and staff;